Our relationship with our earthly father directly affects how we see our Heavenly Father. Yet for so many of us, our earthly dads were absent, abusive, indifferent - or even cruel.

How then do we come to understand God's character and trust Him as our loving Dad? Where do we start when we've suffered so many deep wounds? How do we begin to understand what a loving father even looks like?

In this podcast episode, I'll share three tips that I've learned from my own journey that will ground you in a realistic, flexible, and compassionate starting point to doing just that.

Show Notes:

Realize that God doesn’t expect you to suddenly have a change of heart

God is a God of relationship; and relationship takes time
He understands your wounds, your hurts, and where you are coming from
Give it time
- This has been my own experience; I’ve been a Christian for almost two decades, and He currently has me in a season where He’s focusing really heavily on stretching how I see Him as a Heavenly Father
- I started out relating to Him as God, the one whom I obeyed and related to within the spiritual gift of Faith - which is my top gift. B/c of my gifting, and b/c of the supernatural way He saved me - my testimony is full of supernatural warfare - it was the easiest place for me to start with that relationship.
- Which ties into tip #2...

View Him as God first - or one of His other roles
- Focus more on Him as your Husband, Provider, Friend...or just Heavenly Protector. If one of those “roles” is easier for you to relate to Him through, it’s okay to start there.
If you have trouble with understanding Him as God, look to and lean on Jesus
- Jesus is more like a best friend or favorite big brother. So if you’re really struggling with how to relate to God, focus on Jesus and also the Holy Spirit - who is your Helper.
- Jesus doesn’t come with the Heavenly Father role attached. He also laid down His life for you and I, which paints Him as our hero. Something every woman longs for.
- John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.